The Italian scrap market, like the overall European market, has recorded declining quotations in the past month, with particularly steep decreases for premium quality scrap grades, according to Assofermet, the Italian association of traders of iron, steel, non-ferrous metals, ferrous scrap, hardware and similar goods. The gap in the Italian market between prices of medium-to-low grades and prices of premium qualities has shrunk compared to the first part of the current year.
In the first two weeks of November, demand is steady and is particularly high for medium-to-low qualities (HMS I/II), suppliers of which are reporting increasingly low stock levels.
For the next few weeks, scrap demand in Italy is forecast to remain steady as iron and steel producers seek to satisfy their scrap needs from now until the end of the year.
On the export side, emerging countries are still indicating lively scrap demand, requiring considerable tonnages. Meanwhile, about 60,000 mt of pig iron and 31,000 mt of steel scrap arrived at Port Marghera, Venice during last month.